Let’s Talk Compost!

You consider yourself an environmentally conscious person; frugal with your resources and aware of your individual effects on the earth and its ecosystems. You recycle all of the glass, paper, and plastic your city will accept, yet you regretfully still send some items to the landfill every week.

The next time you get a chance, look in your trash can at home. No need to dive through and analyze all of the contents, but get an idea of what’s in there. How much of what you throw away do you think could be saved from the landfill, and put towards another purpose?

According to the EPA, about 24 percent of our waste is organic material that can be composted. They state that Americans throw away about 1.3 pounds of food scraps daily, which equates to almost 13 percent of the nation’s municipal solid waste stream.

Why not try composting? The results are great for your garden, as they provide healthy and nutrient-rich soil to create healthier and more fruitful plants. You help divert unnecessary trash from the landfill, and if you’re a Bloomington resident, this will even fatten your wallet!

There are endless resources online that will more thoroughly and eloquently describe how to make your own compost then I could, so here’s a list of some of my favorite sources. Try it!

Okay, so you’ve made it this far and would like to compost but just don’t have the room. Well, don’t worry! You can take your compost to the Hilltop Garden on campus, the SPROUTS Garden, or a community garden in Bloomington. Opportunities to compost are endless, so why not try it?

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Published by ajmarlet

One thought on “Let’s Talk Compost!”

I definitely need to start taking my compost to Hilltop! I think it can be difficult for students to feel like they can compost when they rent their home and may feel like they can’t leave behind a compost heap when they leave. It would be great if landlords would make it clear that leaving compost would not be a problem. They could even take compost to help fertilize during their landscaping!